TLDR VERSION:
1. If the box is wrapped in plastic or sealed in any way, IT'S FAKE!
2. If there is a sticker or label on the box indicating the scent variant, IT'S FAKE!
3. If there are imperfections in the label on the bottle, IT'S FAKE!
4. "Tester" versions are NOT AUTHENTIC. They are just good copies. They are worth only P300 to P600.00, (~6-12USD) at most.
Continue reading below for my detailed discussion, tips and photos showing fake Jo Malones.
😊
Collecting Jo Malone perfumes has become my latest addiction.
I have been hearing praises for the Jo Malone line of perfume for years but I've always felt that it was too expensive. So, I convinced myself that it was overhyped and there was nothing special about it. Yet, the curiosity about the perfume always remained.
Then one day, during a trip to Europe, I was able to step in the Jo Malone store at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. The scent of the entire store was heavenly and I wanted to just live in there. Out of curiosity, I started sampling perfumes in the store. After taking whiffs of several variants, I just knew that I couldn't leave the store without buying one.
To make the long story short, I ended up buying one 100ml bottle of Wood Sage and Sea Salt and one 30mL bottle of Blue Agava and Cacao. It was much cheaper there anyway (100 Euros for 100ml and 50 Euros for 30mL) than if I bought the perfumes in stores here in the Philippines. After that I bought 4 other bottles on different occasions, i.e. Earl Grey & Cucumber, Peony & Blush Suede, Lime Basil & Mandarin and Mimosa & Cardamom, all in 100 mL bottles. I was also gifted with Nectarine Blossom & Honey and French Lime Blossom in 50 mL bottles. Here they are:
I've always wanted to buy more scents and I am always on the lookout for great bargains. Sadly however, my search for good bargains would mostly end up in frustration because the internet is full of fake Jo Malones masquerading as U.S. testers and what not.
Unfortunately, in that search for a good bargain, I ended up with a fake Jo Malone perfume, the Lime Basil & Mandarin which I bought from a seller in the buy-and-sell application Carousell.
So, I decided to come up with some tips and give a few pieces of advice on very obvious indications that the Jo Malone perfume is fake. I also made comparisons between my authentic Jo Malone perfumes and the fake one.
So how does one spot a fake Jo Malone bottle? Here are a few tips.
1. The BOX is wrapped in PLASTIC
The seller might try to convince you that the plastic wrapper is an indication that the perfume is BRAND NEW and SEALED BUT Jo Malone does not sell pre-sealed perfume boxes, unlike other perfume brands.
From experience, abroad and in the Philippines, Jo Malone perfumes in the store don't come in pre-packed boxes. In the store, there is a ritual to placing the perfume in a box and it goes like this: after choosing the variant you want, the sales assistant will prepare get a bottle of perfume, some paper tissue, a box and the ribbon. The sales assistant will spray some perfume on the paper tissue (which is usually black), place the tissue inside the box, place the bottle on top of the tissue and cover the box. The sales assistant will then "seal" the box by tying a ribbon around it.
So there. If the perfume box is wrapped in plastic, you're definitely getting a fake like the ones below:
2. There is plastic seal or tape around the bottle
I cannot overemphasize the fact that authentic Jo Malone boxes and bottles are NOT SEALED. If any one tries to sell you a sealed box or sealed bottle, you can be sure that you're being sold a fake Jo Malone bottle. Aside from those wrapped in plastic, there are also Jo Malone bottles out there which appear to have a tape/plastic seal around the bottle like those in the photos below. These are all fakes.
3. There is a STICKER or LABEL indicating the variant on the box
Another indication that you are getting a fake Jo Malone is if there is a LABEL or STICKER on the box (whether on front of the box or on the side). These labels are put on the fake perfumes so that the seller and the buyer would not need to remove the plastic and look inside the box to know what variant a box contains. But in the store, since the perfumes are not placed in the box until a sale is made, there is no need to put a label on the box since the buyer will be seeing the chosen variant being wrapped in front of him/her. Besides, the sticker on the box looks so cheap and tacky and no reputable company will place such a badly packaged and labeled product in the market.
So, in short, if your box has a sticker, it's 100% FAKE like the ones below:
4. Check the LABEL.
Most sellers out there are a little more honest than others who claim that they are selling 100% authentic perfume. The more honest sellers will tell you that what they are selling are testers which come from the same manufacturer. I am not exactly sure how accurate this claim is but from experience with other perfume brands, the testers which I have bought in the past are good imitations of the original BUT NOT 100% similar to the authentic perfume. However, when you visit the Jo Malone stores, you will see that the "tester" bottles they use are exactly the same as those they are selling. Hence, if the "tester" bottle is different from the authentic bottle, then, the perfume you are getting IS NOT FROM THE SAME MANUFACTURER.
So if you are getting a tester, know that you are buying at your own risk. The reasonable price for "tester" or "imitation" bottles of Jo Malone is around P300.00 to P600.00. So, if someone is selling a "tester" bottle for P1,000.00 or even more than that, YOU ARE DEFINITELY GETTING RIPPED OFF!
Most sellers online have multiple stocks of the perfume, each in different variants. In all likelihood, they are selling FAKES or what they refer to as testers. However, if you do like to browse for good bargains, you can try to find sellers who are destashing from their own collections and selling used or second-hand perfumes. It is important, however, to really do your research by looking into the profile of the seller. Yes, there will be some judgments involved here.
First, you have to ask the seller how and where they got the perfume. If they say they bought the perfume, ask them where they got the perfume. It can either be in the Philippines or abroad. If in the Philippines, remember that the only authorized distributors of Jo Malone are the two Jo Malone Stores and Rustan's. You have to researach how much the bottle costs for each particular location. You can also ask if they still kept the receipt.
It may also be the case that the seller will tell you that it was received as a gift. Here, you can also ask if they know where the item was bought.
Second, you have to look into the profile of the seller. Remember that the original bottle of Jo Malone sells at around P7,000.00 (~$140.00) for the 100mL bottle and P3,750.00 (~$70.00) for the 30mL bottle. So the first thing you should look into is if the seller looks like he/she has the capacity to buy the perfume at those amounts. If the seller is selling other stuff, you can try to appraise the value of those items to see the purchasing capacity of the seller.
Third, you have to ask the reason for selling. This may give you an indication if the price they are asking is reasonable.
Fourth, be careful if they are selling the perfume at very low prices. There is a chance that what they have is a fake or tester and they are just getting rid of it.
Fifth, ask for pictures so that you can compare this against photos of authentic Jo Malone online.
Sixth, ask if you can get the item through a meet-up. This way, you can still examine the bottle before paying.
Well, that's it for now. In my next post, I will post photos and compare the authentic bottles with the fake one.
I will also create a vlog with full comparison between these two.
So, have you ever had any experience in buying a fake Jo Malone perfume? Do you have other tips? Feel free to comment below.
Edit: Part 2 of this blog post is now published. To view it, please click this link:
https://littlemisskuripot.blogspot.com/2018/02/fake-jo-malones-are-everywhere-part-2.html
1. If the box is wrapped in plastic or sealed in any way, IT'S FAKE!
2. If there is a sticker or label on the box indicating the scent variant, IT'S FAKE!
3. If there are imperfections in the label on the bottle, IT'S FAKE!
4. "Tester" versions are NOT AUTHENTIC. They are just good copies. They are worth only P300 to P600.00, (~6-12USD) at most.
Continue reading below for my detailed discussion, tips and photos showing fake Jo Malones.
😊
Collecting Jo Malone perfumes has become my latest addiction.
I have been hearing praises for the Jo Malone line of perfume for years but I've always felt that it was too expensive. So, I convinced myself that it was overhyped and there was nothing special about it. Yet, the curiosity about the perfume always remained.
Then one day, during a trip to Europe, I was able to step in the Jo Malone store at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. The scent of the entire store was heavenly and I wanted to just live in there. Out of curiosity, I started sampling perfumes in the store. After taking whiffs of several variants, I just knew that I couldn't leave the store without buying one.
To make the long story short, I ended up buying one 100ml bottle of Wood Sage and Sea Salt and one 30mL bottle of Blue Agava and Cacao. It was much cheaper there anyway (100 Euros for 100ml and 50 Euros for 30mL) than if I bought the perfumes in stores here in the Philippines. After that I bought 4 other bottles on different occasions, i.e. Earl Grey & Cucumber, Peony & Blush Suede, Lime Basil & Mandarin and Mimosa & Cardamom, all in 100 mL bottles. I was also gifted with Nectarine Blossom & Honey and French Lime Blossom in 50 mL bottles. Here they are:
I've always wanted to buy more scents and I am always on the lookout for great bargains. Sadly however, my search for good bargains would mostly end up in frustration because the internet is full of fake Jo Malones masquerading as U.S. testers and what not.
Unfortunately, in that search for a good bargain, I ended up with a fake Jo Malone perfume, the Lime Basil & Mandarin which I bought from a seller in the buy-and-sell application Carousell.
So, I decided to come up with some tips and give a few pieces of advice on very obvious indications that the Jo Malone perfume is fake. I also made comparisons between my authentic Jo Malone perfumes and the fake one.
So how does one spot a fake Jo Malone bottle? Here are a few tips.
1. The BOX is wrapped in PLASTIC
The seller might try to convince you that the plastic wrapper is an indication that the perfume is BRAND NEW and SEALED BUT Jo Malone does not sell pre-sealed perfume boxes, unlike other perfume brands.
From experience, abroad and in the Philippines, Jo Malone perfumes in the store don't come in pre-packed boxes. In the store, there is a ritual to placing the perfume in a box and it goes like this: after choosing the variant you want, the sales assistant will prepare get a bottle of perfume, some paper tissue, a box and the ribbon. The sales assistant will spray some perfume on the paper tissue (which is usually black), place the tissue inside the box, place the bottle on top of the tissue and cover the box. The sales assistant will then "seal" the box by tying a ribbon around it.
So there. If the perfume box is wrapped in plastic, you're definitely getting a fake like the ones below:
2. There is plastic seal or tape around the bottle
I cannot overemphasize the fact that authentic Jo Malone boxes and bottles are NOT SEALED. If any one tries to sell you a sealed box or sealed bottle, you can be sure that you're being sold a fake Jo Malone bottle. Aside from those wrapped in plastic, there are also Jo Malone bottles out there which appear to have a tape/plastic seal around the bottle like those in the photos below. These are all fakes.
3. There is a STICKER or LABEL indicating the variant on the box
Another indication that you are getting a fake Jo Malone is if there is a LABEL or STICKER on the box (whether on front of the box or on the side). These labels are put on the fake perfumes so that the seller and the buyer would not need to remove the plastic and look inside the box to know what variant a box contains. But in the store, since the perfumes are not placed in the box until a sale is made, there is no need to put a label on the box since the buyer will be seeing the chosen variant being wrapped in front of him/her. Besides, the sticker on the box looks so cheap and tacky and no reputable company will place such a badly packaged and labeled product in the market.
So, in short, if your box has a sticker, it's 100% FAKE like the ones below:
4. Check the LABEL.
Legit perfume manufacturers take pains in ensuring that each perfume placed in the market passes quality control. This means that every little detail is checked before a perfume bottle gets out of the factory. So even if the label is not exactly at the center, or if it is not perfectly straight, then there's a good chance that the perfume you are getting is fake.
You also need to look at the ink of the font, the logo and the borders. The printing on the legit perfume will look clean and well printed. On the other hand, printing on fake ones may have flaws, like scattered ink (sabog yung kulay), weird font spacings and inconsistent font size. Spelling errors are also tell-tale signs that a bottle is a counterfeit. If there are mispellings or wrong grammar printed on the bottle, you can be sure that you are getting a fake.
You also need to look at the ink of the font, the logo and the borders. The printing on the legit perfume will look clean and well printed. On the other hand, printing on fake ones may have flaws, like scattered ink (sabog yung kulay), weird font spacings and inconsistent font size. Spelling errors are also tell-tale signs that a bottle is a counterfeit. If there are mispellings or wrong grammar printed on the bottle, you can be sure that you are getting a fake.
5. A Tester is not an authentic version of the perfume.
Most sellers out there are a little more honest than others who claim that they are selling 100% authentic perfume. The more honest sellers will tell you that what they are selling are testers which come from the same manufacturer. I am not exactly sure how accurate this claim is but from experience with other perfume brands, the testers which I have bought in the past are good imitations of the original BUT NOT 100% similar to the authentic perfume. However, when you visit the Jo Malone stores, you will see that the "tester" bottles they use are exactly the same as those they are selling. Hence, if the "tester" bottle is different from the authentic bottle, then, the perfume you are getting IS NOT FROM THE SAME MANUFACTURER.
So if you are getting a tester, know that you are buying at your own risk. The reasonable price for "tester" or "imitation" bottles of Jo Malone is around P300.00 to P600.00. So, if someone is selling a "tester" bottle for P1,000.00 or even more than that, YOU ARE DEFINITELY GETTING RIPPED OFF!
6. If you are looking for authentic version of the perfume at prices cheaper than the original, you have better chance with buying used perfumes.
Most sellers online have multiple stocks of the perfume, each in different variants. In all likelihood, they are selling FAKES or what they refer to as testers. However, if you do like to browse for good bargains, you can try to find sellers who are destashing from their own collections and selling used or second-hand perfumes. It is important, however, to really do your research by looking into the profile of the seller. Yes, there will be some judgments involved here.
First, you have to ask the seller how and where they got the perfume. If they say they bought the perfume, ask them where they got the perfume. It can either be in the Philippines or abroad. If in the Philippines, remember that the only authorized distributors of Jo Malone are the two Jo Malone Stores and Rustan's. You have to researach how much the bottle costs for each particular location. You can also ask if they still kept the receipt.
It may also be the case that the seller will tell you that it was received as a gift. Here, you can also ask if they know where the item was bought.
Second, you have to look into the profile of the seller. Remember that the original bottle of Jo Malone sells at around P7,000.00 (~$140.00) for the 100mL bottle and P3,750.00 (~$70.00) for the 30mL bottle. So the first thing you should look into is if the seller looks like he/she has the capacity to buy the perfume at those amounts. If the seller is selling other stuff, you can try to appraise the value of those items to see the purchasing capacity of the seller.
Third, you have to ask the reason for selling. This may give you an indication if the price they are asking is reasonable.
Fourth, be careful if they are selling the perfume at very low prices. There is a chance that what they have is a fake or tester and they are just getting rid of it.
Fifth, ask for pictures so that you can compare this against photos of authentic Jo Malone online.
Sixth, ask if you can get the item through a meet-up. This way, you can still examine the bottle before paying.
Well, that's it for now. In my next post, I will post photos and compare the authentic bottles with the fake one.
I will also create a vlog with full comparison between these two.
So, have you ever had any experience in buying a fake Jo Malone perfume? Do you have other tips? Feel free to comment below.
Edit: Part 2 of this blog post is now published. To view it, please click this link:
https://littlemisskuripot.blogspot.com/2018/02/fake-jo-malones-are-everywhere-part-2.html
Thanks for the tip! A colleague is selling me Jo Malone Oud & Bergamot for S$60. I was surprised that it's too affordable compared to the usual S$200 for a 100ml box. It's wrapped in plastic and got a red sticker in front. Good thing I managed to read this before I confirmed.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that my blog actually helped someone :)
DeleteI, too, just bought a "tester" on Ebay of the VERY EXPENSIVE Midnight Black Tea and thought 'What a deal." Then I checked the UPC code the seller listed. It didn't match the product. Then I googled "Fake Jo" and came across your website. Thank you! I immediately cancelled the sale on Ebay and notified my Amex that the product I had just purchased was fraudulent.
DeleteYou saved me a lot of disappointment... but not money. lol I now have to get the real thing at regular price from the website. :)
if you actually dont have a budget buying a real one. u will probably end up buying good copies. and there is nothing wrong about it. somehow they smell the same. dont expect if you yo dont have budget and thats reality! 😅😅
ReplyDeleteagree, there's nothing wrong with purchasing testers or copies as long as you know that that's what your getting! My concern and reason behind this blog is that there are so many unscrupulous and unethical sellers who claim that their items are original when they are in fact fakes. And these sellers even price the item at incredible prices (PhP 3,000.00 to PhP 5,000.00), when tester or copies should be priced only at around PhP 300.00 to PhP 600.00.
DeleteHahaha kaya nga nag hanap ka ng mura eh.dahil wala kang budget. Kaya Talagang good copies makukuha mo! Pereho lang naman ung amoy sa orig. Why spend 7k kung matakaw ako sa perfume. Okay narin ung tester na high quality. ��
ReplyDeleteI agree! Walang masama bumili ng copies or testers. Basta alam ng buyer kung ano binibili nila. Kawawa kasi ung mga naloloko ng mga sellers na nagcclaim na authentic or orig daw binebenta nila pero tester lang pala. Ang reasonable price kasi ng copies or testers ay nasa PhP300.00 to PhP600.00 lang. Pero ung mga manloloko, sinasabi na authentic tapos binebenta ng PhP1,000.00 to PhP5,000.00. Nakakaloka lang.
DeleteAnd I have to disagree sa sinabi mo na pareho lang ang amoy. Sa umpisa lang, medyo pareho ang amoy, pero pag sanay ka sa orig, noticeable ung difference nila. Amoy synthetic ang fakes, may amoy chemical at alcohol. In my experience, sumasakit ang ulo ko sa tester/fake perfumes, siguro dahil nga sa kung anu-anong nakahalo. Ung authentic, iba talaga, amoy-malinis.
Kung naka-budget ka, meron naman nabibili na mga used perfumes sa mga nagdedestash ng mga gamit nila. They usually sell the used perfumes at half the price or minsan more than half pa. Nakapurchase na ako several times ng sobrang mura na Jo Malones and authentic sila. Tyagaan lang talaga at dapat, marunong ka kumilatis ng orig.
Another option, kesa bumili ng fakes na hindi mo alam kung anu-ano ung mga nakahalo, is to buy ung mga "inspired" perfumes. Madami nagbebenta ng mga perfumes na inspired by Jo Malone sa malls pati online, like ung Christine Lhuillier Perfumes, Alexander Fragrance, Chemworld Fragrance Factory, Grasse Fragrance Co. Medyo similar na din ung amoy ng perfumes nila sa Jo Malones and at least, sila honest sila na gaya-gaya lang ang perfumes nila. :)
If theres no batch code printed on the bottle, then its definitely an imitation!
ReplyDeleteYes. You should find batch codes at the bottom of the bottle. In the older versions, the batch codes are printed in black letters but in the current versions, the batch codes are now etched/engraved at the bottom, which would make it more difficult for counterfeiters to copy.
DeleteHowever, you still have to check for other indicators because I have seen fake Jo Malones with batch code printed at the bottom. If you check these batch codes online, you may find that they will not correspond to the product. So, while the lack of batch codes will definitely tell you that a bottle is an imitation, the fact that batch codes are printed on the bottle will not guarantee authenticity.
Thank you for your input :)
Are you looking for uncut fragrance oils & fragrance, entirely dedicated to perfumes and essences? Contact us now! Genericperfumes.Com
ReplyDeletejo malone perfume
I bought mine at a mall abroad, a 30ml and it had a sticker wrapped around it. I asked the salesman and he said some of the bottles have it. Weird kase first time ko to see it pero reputable naman yung mall kaya I know its real. Iba lang siguro per country yung packaging. Regarding the plastic covers of the box, those are fakes. All of what I have did not come in any celophane cover, just a ribbon.
ReplyDeleteAs for the batch codes, some are not yet updated din online so its not reliable to use it to verify. But yes for the new bottles, the codes are etched at the bottom that you can hardly see it.
Hi, you're right about the tape. May nakita din ako sa Jo Malone store airport na may parang tape na seal. So, I guess may stores nga that use it.
DeleteI've been wanting to get a bottle of Jo Malone kaso it's expensive haha. What do you think of the Christine L inspired scents of Jo Malone? Are they the closest when it comes to smell?
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried Christine L inspired scents, so I cannot really say for sure. But if I ever get the chance to trey these scents, I will give you my feedback.
DeleteWhen selling used fragrances, it's typical to specify the bottle size and then estimate how much scent remains in the bottle. Please include a picture of the bottle so that they can make their estimate. It's more difficult to work with opaque bottles. You can usually see how much scent is left in a bottle by shining a bright light into the back of it. You can order louis vuitton california dream from my custom scent.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great information, such a great article, very helpful Anti splashing tapes Dubai
ReplyDeleteWhen customers see perfume in an attractive perfume box, they tend to buy it immediately. There is something about seeing a neatly arranged and well-packaged perfume that makes people want to pick up the item and purchase it instantly without even thinking of buying other items first. Perfume packaging must be done well since it can determine whether your customer buys it or not.
ReplyDelete